of icing sugar and snow
by kytaen
Summary: It's the last meeting before Christmas Break, but Sugawara-san is nowhere to be found. Which just makes dealing with everyone so much harder, as Daichi finds out. (A oneshot for dailyhaikyuu's Christmas Exchange on tumblr, for lovebugdarien! Happy holidays !) Also on AO3 and tumblr.


**A/N: So the thing is, I'm not very good at writing anything without angst. I hope this is satisfactory, and it's probably not my best writing, but, hope you enjoy it and happy holidays! The p** **rompt was "Sugawara is actually a fantastic baker, and brings a ton of cookies to their last club meeting before Christmas break."**

It's the last meeting of the club before the break, and Sugawara isn't present.

Usually, he would be one of the first people to arrive. His smile was easily noticeable, even when covered by the sky-blue scarf he loved to wear during winter. The first years would find him dusting snowflakes off his mop of hair as he changes into uniform. The second years spiked and blocked off of Sugawara's stable tosses, and the third years were always glad for his company in short meetings they would have after practice was over.

To think that his familiar presence was missing was absurd. At least, to Hinata, it's the first time he's stepped into the heated gym without greeting Suga-san.

"Captain," he asks, tying his shoelaces between tightly clasped fingers, "where's Sugawara-san?" Hinata pulls the knot to a close, giving it another tug for good measure. He doesn't want to trip and fall flat on his face ever again; Kageyama had admonished him quite severely that time. But Hinata remembered what happened after the yelling ceased: Sugawara-san had gently comforted him; loose shoelaces wasn't exactly uncommon while playing sports.

Suga-san always looked after the team, during times of laughter and times of toil. He isn't here to do that today.

"Huh?" a voice full of surprise shouts, and before Daichi can answer Hinata's question, Tanaka appears from the doorway. "Suga-san's not here?" Nishinoya pops up from behind a few seconds later, chewing intensely on a soda pop.

Hinata fliches. "Noya-san, isn't that too cold?"

Nishinoya bites down on the popsicle, tearing a chunk off as if it were a juicy slab of steak. "I'm Karasuno's libero, aren't I? If I can handle the ball, I can definitely handle this!"

Hinata releases a noise of pure awe and admiration while Tanaka slaps Nishinoya on the shoulder. "You're so cool, Noya-san!"

Daichi shakes his head, which is throbbing, a raw thump of pain as if a drum is beating there. _Is it because of the chill outside_? he wonders, before turning his attention back to Hinata. "We don't know where Sugawara is. I think he was at school today, though," he remembers, thinking back to his lunch break.

Nishinoya finishes his popsicle in one gulp and claps his cold hands together. It's a large sound in the amplifying gym, and Asahi, sitting on the bench, jolts from his place. "Ryuu. Shouyou. Do you know what this calls for?"

"No. What is it?" Tanaka prods, while Hinata jumps up and down. Everything Nishinoya-san did was cool; this can be testified by Hinata from past experience. And even now, Nishinoya stayed true to what he was known for.

A glint flashes in Nishinoya's eyes, so intense, it left Hinata in rapt attention. "This calls for a search party."

"Hey, guys," Daichi says, in the most commanding voice he could muster, "we're supposed to practice first, and then we've got other things planned - "

"The search for Sugawara-san begins!" yells Tanaka, pumping a fist into the air. Noya whoops and dashes for the open door, something Daichi has yet to notice; the bitter wind has been wafting into the gym and taking away all the heat for the past three minutes.

The headache got worse.

"Let's check the locker room first!" Noya says, and Tanaka agrees. Hinata also joins them, only to find that outside, it's freezing. He rubs his arms vigorously and his teeth chatter. How in the world does Noya-san manage to eat a popsicle in this sort of weather?

The locker room is thankfully unlocked, and warmer than the chilly winter air. Hinata accepts the heat gratefully, puffs of condensation still being produced from his mouth. He spots a sweater on the floor, and without thinking, grabs it and covers his shivering arms with it, in a blanket-like fashion, revelling in the comfort it delivered.

Tanaka scans the room, a hand over his eyes. Sugawara-san is nowhere to be seen.

"Ryuu, look," Nishinoya points. Tanaka's searching gaze follows Nishinoya's finger. "Sugawara-san hasn't even been here! The only stuff in here are my clothes, yours, Shouyou's, Daichi-san's, Asahi-san's, and..." Nishinoya squints at the shirt he holds in his two hands, looking for a name or _anything_ to identify whose property it was. "I think this might be Kageyama's."

Hinata freezes at the mention of the scary setter's name. As if on cue, the door bursts open, and the dark-haired first year enters. Kageyama glances at Tanaka, then at Nishinoya, brow furrowing. "Err, Nishinoya-san, what are you doing with my shirt?"

Nishinoya has no choice but to tell the truth, and Nishinoya's version of "the truth" is different from most people's. "Well, me and Tanaka were... admiring! The fabric is fascinating, right, Ryuu?"

Tanaka is bewildered, not recognizing Nishinoya's white lie. "Noya-san, it's sorta plain-looking, actually..."

"Just play along!" hisses Nishinoya, whacking Tanaka's side with the shirt.

"Oh! Uh, yes. I really want a shirt like this! Must be very comfortable," Tanaka improvises in monotone, hoping it would be effective. Turns out, he needs not to worry, as Kageyama has already found a new target.

"Hinata, you dumbass! What do you think you're doing, stealing my sweater?"

Hinata's voice is unsteady, and he apologizes several times, throwing the sweater at Kageyama's face by accident. "I'm sorry! I was cold and grabbed the closest item of clothing I could see!"

Kageyama sputters something incoherent behind the sudden sweater in his face. Angered, he swipes at the garment and drops it on the ground. "Why are _you_ even here, anyways? In your t-shirt, no less? Are you _trying_ to catch a cold?"

Hinata backs away further, shoulders bunching up. "And what are you doing here?" he asks stuffily. He imitates Kageyama's voice, jutting his lip out in a sense of accomplishment as he delivers a flawless comeback. "In your t-shirt, no less."

Kageyama's eyes flicker briefly at his bare arms before gritting his teeth. Nishinoya begins to laugh, only to drop the shirt he was holding and quickly pick it back up, hoping Kageyama did not notice the dust and dirt on his once pristine shirt. Tanaka wipes a tear from the corner of his eye, and his chortles are contagious; even Hinata relaxes his stiff shoulders and chuckles along weakly. He sobers after a while, disguising the laughter with a cough, rather unsuccessfully. "Say, Kageyama, why are you here, anyways?"

"Captain told me to bring you guys back from the locker room."

An idea hits Tanaka full on the head. Talk about a train of thought."Oh, then perfect timing! Why don't you join us?"

"Join... you?"

"Yeah!" Nishinoya pipes up, putting the shirt away in a slow motion, although slightly exaggerated. "We're looking for Sugawara-san. He wasn't in the gym, and he's not here, either. Have you seen him?"

"Actually," Kageyama lifts his chin, "I haven't." No wonder Daichi-san had asked him to retrieve the two second years (plus Hinata), there was no one else to send out at the time.

"He's probably still in school."

The four turn around at the sudden voice.

"Ennoshita-san, please close the door," Hinata says, as snowflakes drift towards his hair and sticks to the curls like dandruff.

"Ah. Sorry."

"Chikara!" Nishinoya yells, while Tanaka interjects, "How are you so sure?"

Ennoshita crosses his arms. "Where else would he be, if you can't find him in the gym and in here?""Err, Ennoshita-san," Kageyama starts, "did Captain call you here?"

"No? I was going to get changed; I haven't been to the gym yet." There is mild confusion surrounding his tone. "Wait, you've all changed into uniform, so why aren't you - "

He isn't given the chance to finish his sentence, because Nishinoya and Tanaka jump up, making a dash straight out the door. Ennoshita leans onto the wall as the whirlwind that is the second year duo whips past him, plus a disheveled Hinata. Kageyama follows the three outside, shouting something vaguely resembling "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Ennoshita emits a long-suffering sigh. "Is it because it's winter break that you're all so excited?" A contradictory thought crosses his mind, and he shakes his head. "Nevermind, they're always like this."

Ennoshita changes quickly, folding his clothes in neat packets and checking to make sure the place is left in a tidy condition. He is about to exit the locker room when the door blasts open. "I told you, he's not here - oh, sorry, Daichi-san."

Daichi waves the apology away. He's breathing hard, the clouds of warm air visible underneath the dim lighting of a winter afternoon. "Have you seen them? The four."

"Yeah, they were in here a while ago."

Daichi looks stricken. "Where are they now?"

"They went back into the school building. Looking for Sugawara-san, I believe."

Daichi pats Ennoshita on the shoulder, and it's as heavy as a ton of bricks. Ennoshita grunts under the weight, while Daichi turns his heel and heads back towards the gym.

"Haven't found him yet?"

Daichi steps into the gymnasium and at once, the overwhelming difference in heat stings his bare skin, leaving a trail of tingles along his arm. Thank goodness he hadn't caught frostbite, but the numbness is close to the sensation, if not equal. "Not yet, Asahi. And what's even worse is that now the four idiots have gone off to who knows where inside the school building."

The door slides open just then, spilling flakes in an improvised dance over the now wet floor, and Daichi is about to voice his frustrations out until he spots a strip of blue in between the slit of light. It's a calming blue, and familiar.

And then something large and alien appears, an irregular shaped shadow. Daichi hears Asahi's yelp behind him.

"Sorry for being late!" Behind the enormous pile of cookies, Suga's kind face appears. His smile causes faint dimples at the corners of his mouth."I baked a ton of cookies yesterday, and people stopped me in the halls for a taste." Sugawara feels the atmosphere, and senses something wrong. "What is it?"

Asahi breathes a sigh of relief. "It's just you, Suga." Then, "What _is_ that thing?"

Daichi rubs at his forehead, pacing across the room. "This is a mess."

"Oh, you mean the cookies?" Sugawara placed the overloaded plate on one of the benches, precariously balanced, and Asahi shifts down towards the heap of cookies, to catch it in the case the plate falls off. "Yeah, I probably tried to fit too many on one plate..."

"No, not that!" Daichi says, trying but failing to keep the tension out of his voice. "The four idiots, they - they went off to search for you, and I don't know where they are now."

"What?" Suga blinks in shock, before bursting into muffled laughter.

"It's not funny!" Daichi protests, but Suga doesn't stop.

"Sorry, sorry!" Sugawara calms himself down. "Were you guys really that worried about me?"

Daichi exchanges glances with Asahi. "Well, of course we were! I mean, you're usually here early and all."

Suga grins, handing the plate towards a confused Daichi. "I'll go get them. You two can have some while I'm away."

Daichi points at the cookies, but Sugawara is already gone. Asahi shrugs. "Go ahead. I don't think I want to eat that."

"Yeah..." Daichi lifts up one, examining the excess icing and christmas-themed sprinkles. They could be store-bought, the expertise and time put into each one, but Daichi knew that isn't a logical assumption: he's seen Suga help out the Home Economics club once. With a deep breath, he takes a bite.

It tastes of dark chocolate, mixed with vanilla and the faintest spice of cinnamon. The icing sugar is sweet, but not overly so, and the batter is soft against his teeth.

"You've got to try this," Daichi mumbles between bites, sending the plate towards Asahi.

 _If Captain can eat it, so can I_ , Asahi figures, and took a sample as well.

It's delicious.

"Now, now, come on," Sugawara chides, through the open doorway, and the four file in, one by one. How many times today has that door slid open? Too many to keep track of, Daichi decides.

The commotion starts up immediately. "Oi, stop pushing! I got here first."

"I'm injured, Kageyama!" Hinata rubs at his knee, which is indeed bruised, a black and blue blossom. "Let me in first."

"That's only because you were being an idiot and slipped on ice!"

Sugawara extends a hand towards Hinata, pulling the redhead out of the tangle. "Are you okay, Hinata? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"It's... It's fine, really." Hinata touches the tender spot gingerly, and winces. Kageyama is spurting out obscenities behind him, and Hinata winces further, so much it's pinching his cheeks, and he staggers forward.

"I have a bandaid somewhere," Asahi volunteers, but Hinata doesn't budge from his resolution.

"It's okay! Really," he adds.

Meanwhile, Tanaka walks over to the captain. "Whoa, Daichi, you look tired," Tanaka comments, a completely useless and stupid remark to make considering what Daichi had gone through.

"You think so, huh?" Daichi answers, through a mouthful of cookie, staring at the second year with glazed eyes. Tanaka's throat produces a squeaky noise in fright, and the subject isn't brought up again.

"Daichi, maybe you should get some rest." Sugawara approaches the captain sitting on the bench, and Daichi slides over on impulse. "You look awful."

"Thank you."

"Is that... sarcasm?"

Daichi wipes crumbs off his face. "Well, for the past fifteen minutes of your absence, I had to take care of these problematic kouhai. And look at how _that_ turned out."

"Well," Suga says, putting a finger to his chin, "they are hard to deal with, that's for sure. Thanks for your hard work."

"Huh?" But Suga ignores the indignant question with just a faintest trace of a smile.

Sugawara points at the plate currently sitting in Daichi's lap. "There's all the cookies I baked. Go on, try a few."

Hinata licks his lips and squeals in excitement, momentarily forgetting the ache in his leg. Tsukishima twists his mouth in distaste, as he approaches the small crowd huddles around the captain. "He looks like he's never seen cookies before."

"Maybe he hasn't," Yamaguchi points out.

The tall blond shifts his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I don't think that's very likely."

"I guess so, Tsukki!"

"Hey, you guys, can you not crowd around me?" Daichi says, pushing back an eager Nishinoya from stealing anything. "It's a lot of cookies, so you're all getting one, don't worry."

"Osu!" the volleyball club shout in unison, as they arrange themselves in a line. It's almost like a potluck, but no one is complaining about the strange formation.

"Any words, Captain?"

Daichi tilts his head quizzically at Suga's request. "Words? Not... not really, this isn't a match, so..."

"Alright. Well, I guess, happy holidays, everyone!" Sugawara exclaims, handing the plate down the line, and the rest of Karasuno dives into a scrumptious feast.

It's snowing outside, and the bitter cold is sweeping into the gym from the doorway, but no one notices this, as in each other's company, this frigid cold they feel is lessened by the warm laughter and of loud, boisterous voices singing carols. The gym just isn't the same without Sugawara's help and guidance, and, as a smile flits across his face at the realization, Suga couldn't do without them, either.


End file.
